More than 96% of respondents to a survey which circulated through the town between July and August voted in favour of retaining the church building as a community asset.
Only four of about 115 respondents favoured a move to sell the church.
However, there were complications, as some ancestral remains were situated on the church grounds, Friends of St Michael's committee chairman David Ritchie said.
''I don't know how that plays out.
''It's certainly an element the church would need to understand and work their way through.''
A committee spokesperson said some respondents had family connections to the church, including marriages, baptisms, funerals or family members who had been ministers or lay preachers or members of the congregation.
''Some have family members buried in the columbarium in the grounds.''
Committee member Louise Joyce said churches had set precedents in the past by uplifting ashes in church columbariums with the blessing of families in the event of a sale.
Last year, the ashes of about 38 deceased were moved from the grounds of Invercargill's St John's Anglican Church to a new crematorium.
The historic Clyde church, in Matau St, has faced an uncertain future after church services ceased in 2015.
Residents feared the historic building would be sold when Dunedin's Anglican Diocese set up a properties commission to explore options for the site.
Most survey respondents supported an option of shared use for commercial and community events including ''creative arts and performance, ceremonies, heritage and history, health and wellbeing''.
Mr Ritchie said there was an expectation the site would not continue as a ''spiritual place''.
The committee is set to meet the properties commission today.
